Harvester-rake



(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. E. PRIDMORB.

HARVESTER EAKE. i

Patented Apr. 26, 1887.

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(No Model.) Y a sneetssneen 2.

H. E. PRIDMORE.

HARVESTER BAKE.

Patented Apr. 26, 1887.

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HARVESTER RAKE.

PatentedA pleased, and has also been automatically con- UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

HENRY n. rRiDMonn, oF CHICAGO, ILLiNoIs.

HARVESTER-RAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.362,038, dated April 26, 1887.

Application nica Jury 1o, ieee.

.To all whom, it may concern.:

Be it known that I, HENRY-E. PRIDMORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chi cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newA and useful Improvements in Harvester-Rakes, of which the following is a speciiication.

A well-known typeof sweep-rakes now in use, often termed Johnston rakes, has the rake-arms hinged by horizontal pivots to a revolving head or crown and controlled by rollers from the inner ends or heels, which travel in a camway and at a certain point therealong are directed into either an inner or an outer track by means of a switch or gate, to cause the arms to act either as rakes, sweeping the platform, or as reel-beaters, which rise as soon as they have stroked and laid the grain. In practically all of such machines at the present day, whatever the different types into which they have branched and the different arrangement of the switch or of the rollers on the rakearms, such switch has been placed under control of the driver to shunt whatever rake he trolled to direct any determined number of the rakes into a given track, so that certain of them should act as rakes, others as reelbeaters.

Letters Iatent were granted to me on the 21st day of October, 1884, No. 307,067, for an improvement in this class of rakes, consisting, in general terms, in combining with the switch or gate, normally pressed' open by a spring to leave the inner track free that the rakes may sweep the platform, a latch which holds it positively closed against the stress of said spring, a jointed trip-lever rocked on its main pivot by tappets ou the rake-arms as they pass, to release the latch, and a connection between one member of said lever and a handlever or treadle under the control of the driver, whereby said member can be swung out of the path of the tappets on the rake-arms, that the lever as a whole may not be operated and the latch released in their passage. In such construction the swinging movement of the movable section was practically in the direction or line of movement of the tappets at that point, and, although I was able to carry it far enough to serve the end desired-that is, to escape any operative contact with the tappetswexperi- Serial No. 207,671. (No model.)

ence has demonstrated that in practical use in the eld it will not be controlled or the attendant will not conveniently control it to such an extent that it will always be carried entirely out of striking reach of these tappets,

which will frequently hit it as they pass by, although not so as to disengage the latch. The j oggling action by the successive blows ofthe tappets and by the reflex action of the spring which is employed to return it to its normal posit-ion results in a great deal of unnecessary friction and wear, as well as in unpleasant 4pivot of the trip-lever, thereby securing this further advantage over my former invention, wherein the two pivots are parallel, that the entire lever will be rigid throughoutits length in the direction of its effective action, and said spring will be independent of weakness or defectiveness in the springs necessarily used between the two sections to maintain their normal relations.

' In the drawings, Figure 1 is atop plan view of a rake-cam embodying my invention, the rake-arms being shown in section or in broken lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with one rake-arm omitted and the others in position 5 Figs. 3 and 4, side elevations of the triplatch and trip-lever, respectively, before and after t-he tripping action; Fig. 5, a front elevation of the trip-lever with the trip-latch in section, and Fig. Gan elevation from the inner side of said trip-lever. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a reaper having my invention applied thereto.

A is a rake head or cam of the usual outline, having at one point an inner track, a, and an outer track, a', suitably arranged to guide the rake-blades through a platform-sweeping or grain-reeling path, according as their rollers travel one or the other.

B are rakearmspivoted to a revolving head IOO or crown, B, and having metal shanks or elbows C, with rollers G upon the heel-extension thereof to take into and follow the camtrack. Cast with each of these rakeelhows, or one member thereof, is a tappet, c-in effect a flange longitudinally of the rake-arm and varying in length upon the successive armsv either all of these tappets differing in length,

so that a single rake out of the series may be caused to sweep the platform, or any number above a single rake, as will hereinafter appear, or else two or more of the rakes Aeqnidistant from each other being supplied with tappets ofthe Ysame length, while the tappets on the others are of diiierent lengths.

Agate, D, upon a Vertical pivot, d, is arranged to change the rollers from theinner to the outer track in the well-known mannerl a heel-extension, d', from this gate being thrown across the inner track into the path of the rake-roller when said rake is open, so that as the roller passes it may force it shut, and a spring, d2, encircles its pivot-pin and bears in Such manner that it tends to hold it normally open, so that whenever it is closed and is released from the instrumentality which holds it closed it will fly open. The usual bridge, E, is

i arranged at the other end of the double track,

swinging upon a vertical or nearly vertical pivot and held normally closed by a spring, that it may yield to the passage of any rakeroll'er following the inner track, or may support and guide rollers which are traveling upon the outer track, thus forming itself a continuation of said outer track. l

From the pivot of the switch or gate projects a lateral lug,f, in which is hooked one end of the gate-latch F, consisting of a rod bent and recessed at its other end, as shown, to catch over a pin, g, projecting from the rake or cam. This pin affords a pivot for a swinging piece or casting, G, preferably slotted, as at g', to receive and serve as a keeper for the end of the latch, and forming the lower section of the jointed tri p-lever, as willpresently appear. A spring, g2, coiled upon the pivot-pin and seated at one end against a lug or projection, g3, ou the cam and at the other end against the casting, holds the latter normally in the position represented in Fig. `3, a stop, g, on said casting striking the body of the cam and preventing it from being swung beyond this position by the force of the spring.

Thus far I have described the construction and arrangement of parts common to this improvement and to my saidpreviously-patented invention; but, whereas in the latter I hinged a lever-arm to the upper end of the casting G by means of a secondary pivot bolt or pin parallel with the main pivot-pin g and keptit normally parallel or nearlyparallel with the casting by the action of a spring prolonged from the main pivot and coi-led upon the secondary pivot, so that when struck at its extreme end by a rake-tappet it might carry the casting or `main section with it and lift t-he trip-latch from its catch, I now propose, as already stated, to support the lever-arm II upon the main section of the jointed trip-lever by means of a pivot-bolt, h, so arranged that when the leverarm is rocked vupon said pivot it may move away from the general trend of movement of the rake-tappets, or, in other words, may move transversely to the path of effective movement of the trip-lever. To this end the secondary pivot is advisably arranged at right angles to the primary pivot, thus more quick] y taking the upper end 4of the lever-arm away from the path of the tappets, and also resulting in an absolute rigidity between the two sections of the trip-lever in the direction of effective movement'at the`point of pivotal connection when operated by the rake-tappets. In order to unite the two'sections, the lever-arm is slotted, or has a rectangular opening, h', which admits ears h2 from the main section for the passage of the pivotpin, and also for the reception ofa coiled spring, h3, encircling said piu and seated at one end against the lever-arm and at the other against the casting, to hold said lever-arm normally in its closed position parallel with the main section. As in my former patent, the eXtreme upper end ot' the lever-arm has a lateral flattening or enlargement, h, to which is clamped a hardened metal plate, I, by means ofa bol't, t', said plate having a suitable flange or seat formed thereon to take over or embrace the head of the lever su fficiently to enable it to be held steadilyin position by a single bolt, although, if desired, more than one bolt may beernployed, or other IOO means adopted to keep itl from swinging or Y playing upon such single bolt. A number of bolt-holes, t', are drilled through the plate in order that it may be adj usted laterally to bring a projection or iinger, t2, extending from it in the path of any desired number of tappets on the rake-arms. Radial adjusting-iingers-such as shown in Letters Patent N o. 307 ,068, granted on the date aforesaid-may, however, be substituted for this specitic device just described. At the lower end of the lever-arm is an offset or lug, K, which comes underneath the eX- treme end of the gate-latch just beyond the catch or recess therein that hooks over the lower pivot-pin.

In operation, when a tappet comes in contact with the finger at the upper end of the lever-arm, it will swing both the arm or main end of the casting upon the lower pivot, the upper pivot, being in line with the force applied, holding the two sections rigidly together and causing them to move in unison without any lost motion. Such movement brings the lug at the lower end of the lever-arm against the end of the gate-latch and raises the latter until it is released from the pivot-pin, when the gate is forced open by its spring carrying the latch forward slightly, but leaving its end still retained in the keeper or slotted guideway in the casting, as shown in Fig. e. The roller upon that rake-arm which has tripped the catch now enters the inner track, and as it passes beyond the gate-pivot strikes against the re-entrant heel-arm of said gate and forces it shut, carrying the latch back to place and locking the gate in its closed position, so that the next rakeroller, unless the tappet on its arm should be of sufiicient length to strike the tripping device, will travel on the outer track.

In order, at the will ofthe operator or driver, to prevent the tripping` of the gatelateh in case the crop should be so thin that a sufiicient gavel fails to collect in the time permitted by the adjustment of the tripping mechanism, a link,K,is attached to thelower end ofthe leverarm, connecting with a treadle, K2, or handlever in position to be controlled by said operator. By means of this link the lever-arm can be swung on the upper or secondary pivot to carry its lug out from beneath the end of the gate-latch, as indicated in Fig. 5, thus carrying its upper end laterally out of the reach of any tappet on the rake arm or arms and leaving the latch undisturbed, while successive rakes act as reel-beaters until the gavel is of the proper size, when the lever-arm, being released, will spring back to place and the next tappet of the proper length will trip the latch.

It is evident that it is not absolutely essential that the trip-lug should be placed upon the second section or arm of the `jointed trip-lever instead of upon the first or main section, since, as the latter in the present construction is intended to be taken absolutely out of the path of the rake-tappets, no liability is to be apprehended of an accidental movement ofthe lever. It is also evident that the particular form of cam and arrangement of gate and bridge are not essential to the effective working of the improved tripping device, there being other well-known forms to which it can readily be applied, and this being referred to merely by way of illustration for the reason that it 'is considered the best.

I claiml. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a switch or gate, a gatelatch which holds it positively-closed against the stress of its spring, a jointed trip-lever adapted to be rocked upon its main pivot by. tappets on the rakearms as they pass, to release said latch, and a connection between one member of said lever and a hand-lever or treadle under control of the driver or attendant, whereby said member may be swung transversely to the plane of effective movement to carry it out of the path of the tappets on the rake-arms, that the latch may not be released by them.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a switch or gate, a gatelatch, a pin projecting from the rake-cam, over which said latch catches to hold the gate closed against the stress of its controllingspring, a sectional trip-lever, the main section of which ispivoted upon said latch-pin and the other section connected to the first by a pivot transverse to the axis of said pin, tap` pets upon the rake-arms adapted to strike the end of the uppersection to rock the lever upon the main pivot or latch pin,and means whereby said upper section may be rocked upon its own pivot transversely to the plane of effective movement to carry its end out of the path of the tappets, that the latch may not be released.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the gate-latch, of a slotted casting pivoted to the pin over which the latch takes and serves as a keeper or guide for its free end, and a lever-arm connected to the top of said casting by a pivot-pin transverse to the axis thereof, with its upper end arranged to be actuated by tappets on the rake-arms, and its lower end provided with a lug which comes beneath the end of the gatelatch to release it as said lever-arm is moved by the tappets.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a gate-latch, of a sectional trip-lever having a pivot between the sections trending in the direction of their effective movement, whereby they are rigid in the plane of said movement, but one section is free to rock on the other transversely to said plane.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the gate-latch, its catch-pin, the slotted casting pivoted on said catch-pin, the lever-arm pivoted to the upper end of said casting and at its lower end provided with a lng which -comes beneath the gate-latch, the spring acting upon said casting to hold it normally in position for effective action, and the spring between said lever-arm and the casting to hold the arm alongside of the casting.

HENRY E. PRIDMORE.

ICO 

